EARLY EXCAVATIONS IN POMPEII

As American writer Ignatius Donnelly (1901) commented in 1882, [...] for a

thousand years it was believed that the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii wereCARLOS PREZ-RUBN

myths. That, incidentally, was just the case also with Troy which was discovered bySchliemann, the German archaeologist at that time (late 19th century), and with Ur,which was discovered by Sir C.L. Woolley, his English colleague, succeedingly (20thcentury). Actually, the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii were identified andthoroughly excavated much earlier, in the late 18th century, by a Spanish amateurarchaeologist1 who ought to be given full international recognition for hisaccomplishments, thus expanding that duet of pioneering archaeologists to a trio. Forthe most part, this man has hardly been identified abroad in the relevant literatureand, when rarely identified, he has either been merely mentioned by his real surnameor described as a Neapolitan gentleman by the name of Rocco Gioiachino. Truthto say, his real and full name was Roque Joaqun de Alcubierre (1780) who, at theoutset, was a Major in the Neapolitan Royal Engineer Corps. It is believed that hewas transferred from Spain as a member of the Spanish military expedition thatrecovered the Kingdom of Naples from Austria in 1734. I therefore take this opportunity of vindicating the Spanish glory and thememory of this noted compatriot to whom full credit is due for having (i)encouraged and persuaded the then ruling King Charles VII (1735-59) of Naples, amember of the Spanish Branch of the House of Bourbon, who later became CharlesIII2 of Spain, to sponsor regular archaeological excavations on the Gulf of Naplesand (ii) been, for most of the last forty-two years of his life and as the kings loyaland trusted Aide, directly or indirectly concerned with the overall project ofexcavating a grand total of no less than nine sites in the area, namely Herculaneum,Pompeii, Stabiae, Polion, Sorrento, Capri, Pozzuoli, Cumas and Fusano. He had asuccession of assistants and cooperators, among whom his comrade-at-arms theNeapolitan-born Spanish colleague engineer Francisco de la Vega is noteworthybecause, according to Salvatore Nappo, the Italian authority on Pompeii, he [...]was undoubtedly the best and most farsighted of the 18th century excavators inPompeii.

1 Other early Spanish archaeologists were Ocampo and Morales (16th century), Caro (17thcentury) and Flrez and Cen (18th century). 2 This king (1788), a truly enlightened monarch, also promoted and sponsored from 1734,the first archaeological excavations in Spanish America, which included discovery of the ruins ofPalenque (Mexico)[Alcina]. He played a prominent role-together with the French king-insupporting the American Revolutionary War in different ways, to the inclusion of such majoraccomplishment as that of successfully selling the armed neutrality policy to Catherine the Great,the Russian empress, an invaluable action which served to prevent Russia and her allies fromintervening in the conflict on Englands side, this being another fact for which Spain hasapparently not received any credit in the USA, except perhaps at the academic level.

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Eventually, those accomplishments materially enabled Italy to boast of having

the worlds richest archaeological collection in the Museo Aqueologico Nationale inNaples. As to Spanish sovereignty over Naples, Bellechasse, the Swiss historian, inwriting about Pompeii and Herculaneum, comments that Naples, up to 1713 (Treatyof Utrecht), had been [...] a kingdom which Spanish Viceroys had brilliantly ruledfor over two centuries. The sunken ruins of specifically Pompeii are remarkable not only because theyconstitute the unique survival of an old and almost intact Roman city, but becausethey preserved a baffling, epigraphic and quasi-palindromic square (Fig. 1) which,since its discovery there twice in the 20th century, has succeedingly rekindledconsiderable interest among scholars, notably classicists. Pliny the Elder was,apparently, the first Roman scholar to mention it. (Ref.: Naturae historiarum libri,completed in 77 AD). [Britannica]. This square has to date been defying a proper and convincing solution, as canbe determined from the relatively large bibliography available thereon and theabsence of a consensus of opinion on its possible meaning.

IDENTIFICATION AND DISCOVERY OF THE SQUARE

The square is conceived in the form of a 5-X-5 matrix, at times loosely

described as a magic square, wherein numerals are replaced by letters representingLatin and would-be Latin words. Also, contrary to a true magic square, all thesymbols (characters in this case) are repeated--except the central N, a fact which ishighly significant because both its key position and its special symbolism, as will beremarked upon later. From the illustration below (Fig.1) it will be readily obvious that the letteringcan, in principle, be read either horizontally or vertically and either from the top orbackwards from the bottom. However, it was intended to be read in the Orientalboustrophedon manner3, i.e., the way in which the oldest Greek inscriptions werewritten [Gelb]. The square, in this original Oriental form, has been found also on anostracon (ancient Greek potsherd) on exhibit in the Cairo Archaeological Museum

3 A phrase read alternately from right to left and from left to right. This usage has beenaffirmed by Diehl (1925), Gelb and Wagner (1950s), Fuchs (1960s), Hoffman (1970s) andHommel (1990s). This sort of spiral evolution, which is inspired on the way an ox turns inploughing, is the way in which the Jewish Bible in Hebrew characters is written. Moreover, TheRomans usually considered the left auspicious, hence the ploughman turned up the clods of earthto the left and drove his plough to the right. [Burriss].

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[Bouisson] and in Arabian or Ethiopian talismans.

Fig. 1

The lettering, as shown above within a cippus (a type of ancient Roman

gravestone) by way of a posthumous tribute to the anonymous clever Romanoriginator of the puzzle, is hence to be read as SATOR-OPERA-TENET-AREPO-ROTAS, this version being the Westernised direct form of the square that hasprevailed from the 6th century AD. [Becker]. As such, it has been found ininscriptions on several media ranging, roughly, from an early 9th century Latin Bible4to certain 14th century Austrian coins [Ripley and Vignati/Peralta], to the inclusion ofnumerous buildings erected by the Knight Templars5. [Vignati/Peralta].Additionally, as illustrated by Becker and Wirth, it appeared on a 16th centurytalisman--known as Postels pentacle6--in which the square is, basically, gravenwithin a circle and lying over two interlaced rectangular triangles. As such, thesquare drew the attention of Father Athanasius Kircher (1680), the famous GermanJesuit priest, linguist and scholar, but was negatively commented upon by him. (Seethe Conclusion section, below). It was used in even more recent times for, as statedin the Britannica: As late as the 19th century it was graven on amulets and charmsand laid upon pregnant women to ensure safe delivery.

4 Held at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France. 5 This fact is a real breakthrough because it is generally held among scholars interested inesotericism that the Knight Templars, through their connections with Semitic and Graeco-Byzantine mystics in the Middle East, believed in the alchemical-gnostic doctrine of dualism andthe union of opposites by way of awakening, developing and venerating the female principle,supposedly in the form of images of black Virgins representing Mother Earth, hence the colourblack. Gordon, for one, says: Certainly Eastern dualism entered Templar philosophy early on [...].Learned in Islamic doctrine, number and science; Jewish Qabalah [...]. 6 Postel (1581), a French secularised Jesuit priest, was a mystic, an orientalist and aphilosopher as well as an expert in the Christian cabala. Although this talisman is awkwardlydesigned, its symbolism agrees perfectly well with the alchemical-astrological tradition for itcorresponds to the quarternary nature of the self as described by Dr. Jung.

176 THE SUNKEN RUINS OF POMPEII..._______________________________________________________________________________

Discovery of the first of the two specimens found in Pompeii--all in graffito7

form--occurred in 1926 during excavations under the supervision of Mauiri, anItalian archaeologist. It was marked on the outside of the house of a Publius PaquiusProculis, an official who had been elected annual duumvir municipale (town co-magistrate) in 74 AD. [Comte Corti]. This specimen was indirectly dated by ItalianProfessor della Corte and his closest colleague at some time before 62 AD, the yearof the earthquake preceding the 79-AD Vesuvian eruption.

SUMMARY INTERPRETATIONAL BACKGROUND

The numerous scholars who have written about the square in the 1900s aloneexceed 150, from Klein (1900) to Ernst, Guarducci and Kepartov in 1991, asgleaned largely from the extensive bibliographical references given by professorMoeller, the Dutch scholar. Among the other interpretations probably the most important one is the viewthat the square is of Mithraic origin, as espoused by Moeller, who set forth a well-reasoned and plausible but unlikely argument as discussed in his 1973 essay on thesquare. His view does, however, contribute to dispelling the belief that it is ofChristian origin. Ferguson briefly summarised the state of the art in this abstruse subject whenhe affirmed quite simply, as fairly recently as 1989, that the meaning of this wordsquare is not clear and that scholars have offered many (utterly) differinginterpretations. Indeed, these interpretations range between two radically clashingextremes, namely, at one end, from the view that it is a square [Marcovich as quotedby Kepartov and as translated from the German language] which could have beeninvented by low-class people, such as soldiers, sailors, traders, prisoners, despicablemen [bastards was the actual hard name he used] or even slaves, or at best a meregame; and, at the other end, that it bears one or more concealed Christianmessages. Notwithstanding all the existing contradictory interpretations, it is a fact thatthe square has such an evocative power despite the expiry of well-nigh two millenniasince its development that, remarkably enough, it captured the imagination of AntonVon Webern (1945), a pupil of Schoenberg, who is deemed to be the most notablecomposer of the contemporary Viennese school of music. He very appositely used

7 This practice of defacing stone walls is quite old in Italy as evidenced by the graffiti foundin Pompeii, but with the difference that markings were graven [not, of course, spray-painted] then.[Montanelli].

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the SATOR-ROTAS ... phrase (translation) in his Concerto Opus 24 as a symbol of

DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

General

From a cursory review of the bibliography on the subject it seems that thefavourite interpretation among academic scholars is that the square is of Christianorigin because the lettering therein, when rearranged, happens to show phrasesadmitting of a Christian interpretation. One of these phrases even leaves tworemaining letters, A and O, in duplicate, which are believed by such scholars torepresent the Greek letters Alfa and Omega as used in the Christian sense. But Ferguson states that although the result of associating the square withChristianity is striking, it appears to be coincidental, for the interpretation rests onunlikely assumptions and a non-Christian meaning is more probable. Etienneindirectly supports this view in commenting that Tertullian (c220 AD), theCarthagenian-born Church Father, presumed that there were no Christians inCampania (the region encompassing Pompeii) in 79 AD. He adds that even if therehad been any isolated Christians in specifically Pompeii, they would not haveunderstood the Christian phrases because though Pompeiians prayed in Greek theywould have been unaware of the special Christian meaning of the letter-wordsAlpha and Omega. The Biblical Acts of the Apostles (28: 13-14) do assure, though, that SaintPaul was met by brothers-in-the faith when he visited Pozzuoli, in Campania; butthis large international port cannot be compared with Pompeii, a small provincialcity (Etienne), which had a population of only some 18,000-20,0000--including arelatively large floating community of wealthy, Roman summer residents--at thetime of the volcanic eruption. And the neighbouring Herculaneum had merely 4,000inhabitants at the time. There is no convincing evidence of Christian cruciform symbolism either atPompeii or Herculaneum [Dinkler as quoted by Ferguson] in the 1st century AD.The oldest Christian crosses found in Italy, which are those seen in the catacombs, inRome, date to the 2nd century [Comte-Corti]. Ceram, the celebrated Germanpopulariser of archaeological discoveries, said in 1957 that there are no indicationsof the existence of the Christian cross any earlier than the 2nd century. Ferguson,

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exactly thirty years later, reaffirmed this when he made the sweeping statement that"It is now generally accepted that there are no securely datable Christianarchaeological remains before the late 2nd century or about 200 AD." In my opinion, absolutely all the unapparent indications definitely point to aJewish origin, and more specifically to a Judaeo-Gnostic origin. The theory of theprobable Jewish origin of, or Jewish influence on, the square has already beenremarked upon by such scholars as Dornseiff, Cumont, Jerphanion, and Fishwick[Moeller], and also by C. Comte-Corti. The last-named more specifically suggeststhat it 'could be a Jewish hieroglyphic'. (Emphasis added). As stated byMacHendrick, The Roman state religion, cold and formal, offered little comfort: thewarmth and promise came from Oriental religions and cults. Therefore, for the purpose of correctly identifying the origin and the meaningof the square, it would appear, to begin with, that its discovery at Pompeii is veryimportant because Roman mystery religions prevailed there in the 1st century AD, afact which affords we Rotas-Sator enthusiasts with an invaluable first clue. More specifically, the house of duumvir Proculus, where the secondPompeiian specimen of the square was located, revealed the existence of drawingsshowing rosettes, seven-step stairs, and other items which could have been used asmodels by pupils of a technical school for apprentice masons and craftsmen[Ibidem]. It so happens that Roman building guilds, who learned from Jewishpractices, left their symbolic elements (including compass, cube, mallet, level,plummet, and square), as were recently excavated in Pompeii, curved on stone[Sinclair]. Needless to say, those same elements form part of the symbolism ofFreemasonry. Simon Magus, who hailed from Samaria--a region which in New Testamenttimes was to some extent a centre for Hellenistic culture--was a 1st century ADJewish teacher and the first Gnostic about whom something can be said withconfidence. [Britannica]. He visited Rome, from Alexandria, Egypt, at some timeduring the reign of Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) and recruited followers therefrom among the numerous members of the Neo-Pythagorean movement, who, itis said, practised initiatic Pythagorean cabalism as far back as the 1st century B.C.[Ferguson]. (Emphasis added). Indeed, evidence is available, from the archaeological excavations made inPompeii, to the effect that initiatic rites pertaining to the Dionysian-Ariadne mysterycult of Greek origin, in keeping with the Neo-Pythagorean movement, were heldthere since at least c. 60 B.C. [Etienne]. In the 2nd century AD Justin Martyrreported that Simon had engendered a cult in Rome. [Ibidem] The name Faustus,

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which was bestowed on Simon early in the Christian era [Walker], meansFavoured One and represents, according to Goethe, the myth of (Translation) therestless and ambitious human spirit of striving after knowledge of the supreme andeternal Truth. [Espasa]. As in Roman, Greek, and Middle Eastern initiatic labyrinths, and in Indo-Tibetan mandalas8, the square9 responds to "the need for the fallen, in the Neo-Platonic sense, to seek out the way back to the spirit through the Centre[!]" [Cirlot](Emphasis added).

Relevant Historical Background and Additional Supporting Facts

1. Even the cross-like marks on the 1st and 2nd century Palestinian ossuaries should not be interpreted in a Christian sense [Smith as quoted by Ferguson].

2. During roughly the 50 years before and 50 years after the Common Era, a number of geometrical symbols, mostly rosettes [...], were put on many of the ossuaries used at that time for the internment of bones [Judaica] in Palestine, Simon Magus native land.

3. Judaism made an important contribution to the conceptions and the

development of Gnosticism [Ibidem], as evidenced by the fact that many Gnostic speculations can be explained as arising from reflections on the early chapters of Genesis. [Ferguson]. Coptic codices found in the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945-46 have yielded extensive evidence for Jewish tradition in the formation of Gnostic speculation (Ibidem). And "Elements of Gnosticism bear striking similarities to Neo-Pythagoreanism [...] and Middle Eastern Platonism" [...] (Ibidem). (Emphasis added). Alexandria, Egypt, arose from Israel and Athens. [Frank]. Here, in the 1st century AD, the syncretic systems that nourished the complex of hermetic philosophy known as Gnosis and Neoplatonism came together [Roob]. "The view which has found a great deal of favour in recent years is to 8 The link between this seemingly astro-alchemical square and a Hinduist-Buddhist mandalalies in that the latter, as used by Dr. Jung in the treatment of his patients, is a device aidingpsychic integration. He adds that the symbols of the self in mandala form, as are spontaneouslyproduced by the unconscious mind, have a mathematical structure which both expresses andcreates order and which generally appear in times of psychic disorientation to offset a chaotic stateor as a formulation of a numinous experience. 9 Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa ( 1464), an influential philosopher, said that search for truth inman is comparable to the task of converting a square into a circle and that the centre, where themost concentrated energy lies, is where opposites coincide (coincidentia oppositorum).

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regard the Gnosis as a kind of philosophy derived from the Orient [...], a philosophy which is supposed to have been current in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire during the centuries that followed Alexander the Great" (323 BC) [Burkitt] (Emphasis added). "This view has been upheld [...] by such scholars as Biousset and Reitzenstein" [...] (Ibidem).The character of Gnosis essentially consists in intuition, in an illumination by the spirit of God" [Weizsker as quoted by Cheyne], the intuition being therefore in the nature of the special perceptiveness of mystics. The effect of Gnosticism was most clearly felt on nascent Christianity in which it led to the formation of the canon, creed and episcopal organisation. [Britannica]. An all-encompassing intuition is the element that can reach the heart of a thing and hence grasp its essential reality [prcis of a fundamental point in Bergsons Introduction to Metaphysics as summarised in the Britannica]. All the great Ionian Greeks--Thales, Heraclitus, Empedocles, like the almost divine Pythagoras--taught a Gnosis. [Burkitt].

4. Gnosticism is Mater Alchymica (the Mother of Alchemy) and draws upon

astrological speculations. [Singer]. Zosimos, a 5th century Greek historian, states that the Jews acquired the secrets of the sacred craft [alchemy] from the Egyptians (...).[Judaica]. "Here [Alexandria], in the 1st century AD, in the former centre of Greek culture on Egyptian soil, with its highly diverse mixture of peoples [...], the threads of all the individual disciplines making up the complex of hermetic philosophy came together: alchemy, astral magic [astrology] and the cabala. The complementary syncretic systems that nourished them, hybrids of Hellenic philosophies and Oriental religions and mystery cults, are known by the two concepts of Gnosis and Neo-Platonism". [Roob] (Emphasis added).

5. European (spiritual) alchemy developed from ancient mystery teachings

taken up by the gnostics in the early Christian Era [Yates as quoted by Gordon]. The object of spiritual alchemy and of initiatic psycho-astrology consists in the issue of achieving selfhood from personhood, as pioneered-- from a seemingly Gnostic origin--in early Christianity [Kelly] by St. Augustine himself, hence his famous phrase noli foras ire, in teipsum redi: in interiore hominis habitat veritas as quoted in his De Vera Religione (XI. 72) [Ibidem]. This was seemingly prefigured in contemporary times in Gestalt

6. The use of the letters of the alphabet as numerical signs, the first Jewish traces of which are found on Hasmonean coins (c. 135 BC), may have been an imitation of the Greek custom. [Judaica].

Analysis

Readily Apparent Symbolism:

In keeping with the foregoing, the obvious key to the square, therefore, lies inits centre, which is occupied by N, the only unrepeated letter as noted above. Thisletter, which happens to be emphasised as explained below, symbolises, in brief, thecentral point of Creation in space-time or, simply, the geometric centre of theUniverse and, in an extended sense, the centre of our own selves, plus "the point ofresolution and reconciliation where all opposites disappear" [Cooper]. Indeed, the letter N was represented in the Proto-Sinaitic10 alphabet, accordingto inscriptions dating "from approximately the beginning of the 16th century BC' andapparently 'influenced by [...] Egyptian hieroglyphic writing" [...] [Britannica], by agliding or a recumbent snake11--i.e., [Walker] the female serpent regarded in theMiddle East as the embodiment of illumination. Additionally, the letter N12 (i) is the thirteenth (13th) letter in the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet and in both the Greek alphabet and the classical Roman alphabet(see Fig. 2, below); (ii) stands also for number 14--its position in the Hebrewalphabet--a number (2X7) which, in the Hebrew cabala, symbolises transmutationand metamorphosis, i.e., spiritual rebirth, a condition which in turn is symbolisedby the serpent because of the "sloughing of its wornout skin" [Bayley]; and (iii) has

10 An early alphabet originally consisting of 17 characters [Judaica], close to one half ofwhich bore the influence of Egyptian hieroglyphics. [Britannica]. 11 This is a symbol corresponding to the winged serpent [or sea-snake] symbol in the GreekOrphic-Dionysian cult. [Campbell]. The Greek daimon (the Genius or guiding spirit) was inRoman classical times often conceived as appearing in the form of a snake. [Britannica]. Thefirst meaning of wiseman was priest to the serpent. [Pichon]. (Translation) As we penetrate intofarther removed chambers of our inner castle we progressively become our truer selves [...] and getnearer to what is incomparable, i.e., to what is indefinable and ineffable in our personal selves.[Garca Morente]. As quoted from Don Quixote, I know who I am--the one I want to be. 12 ENE (in Latin and Spanish), NY (in Greek) and NUN (in Chaldean, Hebrew and Arabic).Sieveking illustrates the early Egyptian hieroglyphic for the letter as a gliding snake.

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the numeric value of 50, which is a highly significant number as explained below.See 'Rosette' in the Findings section, under the letters R-O-T-A-S). The far-reaching significance here of this letter is highlighted by the facts thatnot only is it (i) unique in, and (ii) central to, the square but it is (iii) spelled out thereas ENE, and this spelling, read horizontally and vertically, is (iv) in the form of across. Quite coherently, M, the immediately preceding letter (of which the N is anabbreviation) of this alphabet, "is the wavy sign symbolising the sea or Ocean" [i.e.,the unconscious mind] [Judaica], as per the corresponding Egyptian hieroglyphic.This would appear to be confirmation of the belief, as held by certain symbologists,that the animal involved is precisely a female sea-snake. The word cross, in this context, indirectly refers us to crossroads and to thecorelated words cruces (plural of crux), crucial, and crucible in the symbolicGnostic sense. Hence the connection between particularly, on the one hand, crossand crucible13, and on the other, between initiatic death and number 13, will surelybe apparent to the knowledgeable reader. The end result, as mentioned in contemporary times by both Dr. Jung andJoseph Campbell, is the conjunction of opposites (coniunctio, or conjunctionis,oppositorum) involved in the mystical marriage of Gnosticism, which is also knownas the alchemical wedding, as described below. The 15th-century German Neo-Platonic philosopher and churchman NikolausKrebs, better known as Nikolaus Cardinal von Cusa (Cusanus), in his work Devisione Dei, as quoted by Campbell, spoke about "the door of the coincidence ofopposites which an angel guardeth". Such conjunction or harmonisation entails theoperation in a person of symbolic fire and water, the two purification andregeneration elements which lead to the alchemical wedding or mystical marriageand which are "related to (Kantian) noumenon and the hermaphrodite" (theandrogyne) [Cirlot]. Although the earliest extant alchemical literature dates only to the 3rd centuryAD, it reflects doctrines that could have been transmitted orally by a few masters to asmall number of disciples for a long time previously [Grazanti]. One, if not the first,of such masters would of course be Simon Magus, the Samaritan Jew. (Seesubdivision 14, below).

13 The crucible symbolises the severe crisis or trial in the form of psychic chaos, a conditionwhich, if overcome, is capable of causing the reconcilement or union of opposites via a resultantpurification, the Greek terrifying catharsis. From contemporary scientific investigation (notably inthe USA) it would seem that the union in point consists in the mental linking of the left and theright cerebral hemispheres.

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As described in modern psychoanalytic terms, "Analysis probes, goes into,

takes apart: it is a masculine, dynamic function. Synthesis contains, combines,encloses: it is a feminine, magnetic function. The first fusion of male and femaleenergies, known as the conjunction, is the central process of alchemy". [Metzner asquoted by Singer]. I would first draw attention to the momentous fact that both the apparent ENEand TENET crosses represented in the centre of the square are Greek equal-arm andnot Latin or Christian unequal-arm crosses. In hermetism the Greek cross isregarded as the emblem of Hecate--the goddess of crossroads (Emphasis added),the place where a man moves from one realm to another--and symbolises the unionof the upright (male) and horizontal (female) principles. [Jobes]. Moreover, inGreek antiquity a cross was placed on the breast of an initiate after his new birth(rebirth) in the Dionysian and Eleusinian mysteries. [Ibidem]. Roman, Greek and Middle Eastern initiatic labyrinths, can even be seen on thefloor of some Italian medieval Romanesque churches [Monitor] and in certainsimilarly old French medieval cathedrals, notably at Chartres [Bayard], and in Indo-Tibetan mandalas. As to specifically magic squares, Dr. Carus (1919), the German-born American philosopher, stated that they are like a mirror which reflects thesymmetry of the divine norm immanent in all things, in the immeasurable immensityof the Cosmos [...] no less than in the mysterious depths of the human mind.[Andrews] (Emphasis added).

Concealed Symbolism:

A thorough analysis of the respective numbers after reduction to a digit basis

(See Fig. 5 in the Methodology section, below) shows the following impressiveand comprehensive symbolism relevant to my theory: (i) four ones, which digitsymbolises the active principle and the creative spirit; (ii) four twos, which digitsymbolises conflicting or tense dualism; (iii) two sixes, which digit symbolises therays of the sunwheel and the union of opposites, i.e., the fire and water involved inthe opera alchymica, as represented by the magic hexagram, a figure which isdescribed below; (iv) four sevens, which digit--understood as four plus three--,prominent in the Bible, symbolises mysticism and final victory of the Spirit overmatter; (v) two eights, which digit was prominent in the temples built by theKnights Templar, presumably because of its special symbolism, as enumeratedbelow; (vi) an inner Greek cross (crux quadrata) consisting of five Mercurial fivescorresponding to the ENE Greek cross in the original square (5X5, the order of thesquare); (vii) an imaginary or skeletal, major central TENET Greek cross consisting

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of four Lunar (Luna = Moon) nines and representing the perfect number 33, whichnumber appears both horizontally and vertically by adding up all the digits in eitherthe central column or the central row and which symbolises completion of thealchemical process in the psyche, a feat which is symbolised by the 33-rungByzantine mystical ladder; (viii) number 13, from both the sum total of theindividual letters in the square and the position occupied by the letter 'N' in theHebrew alphabet as well as in the classical Roman alphabet, symbolising an iniatic'death' (a mere coincidence?); (ix) number 27, the converse of number 72,symbolising the sacred 'womb' (in alchemy, vas Hermeticum, the alchemical alembicor retort) and intuitive understanding, which number appears in the lower-left angleof the square, forming an imaginary triangle with its converse number 72; (x)number 72, symbolising the Gnostic Solar Logos and the Hebrew Cabalistic SacredNames Tetragrammaton and Shem Ha Mephorash) of Yahwe as well as the steps inJacob's ladder, which number appears in the upper-right angle, likewise forming animaginary triangle with its converse number 27 and (xi) the central 50, whichsymbolises, in the Hebrew cabala, the gates of understanding, individuation andcelestial man (in the Christian cabala, the Holy Spirit). Finally, but merely for thesake of further argument, it should be noted that the 1-50 series in question, i.e.,ignoring the 'divine' number 72, adds up to 161, a palindromic figure whichsurprisingly enough happens to appear in the upper-left and the lower-right angles,likewise forming two imaginary triangles. It will be clear to anyone who is acquainted with the alchemical process thatthe three major symbolic elements (mercury, silver, and gold), the required 'retort'and the other key factors as well as the immediate goals and the ultimate objective,are symbolised in the square within the twelve-number 1-2-5-6-7-8-9-13-27-33-50-72 series, as analysed above. Furthermore (also by mere chance?) the number of individual letters in thesquare (A-E-N-O-P-R-S-T) happens to be eight, a figure which, in initiaticnumerology, symbolises regenerative potential, universal harmony and lifeeverlasting or immortality. Enel points out most conclusively the importance of number 50 as well as ofthe letter NUN and the word ROTA--without any reference to the square underanalysis--when he remarks that (TRANSLATION): "The 50 gates [ofunderstanding], which are sealed by the letter NUN, are opened by the key-word(ROTA) to Wisdom". In view of the foregoing it would seem that this square wasconceived upward from the centre and not vice versa.

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Consequential Meaning of the Latin or Would-be Latin Words:

My interpretation of the Latin, or would-be Latin, words in the order appearing

in the westernised version of the square, in the light of the symbolism of the abovenumeric values of the letters, is as follows: S-A-T-O-R, in my opinion, stands for the contraction of the forenameSatornilo14 (equivalent to the Roman Saturninus), possibly identifying some Gnosticfrom Antioch. O-P-E-R-A clearly stands for the Latin plural of the word 'opus', i.e., the opusparvum15 and the Opus Magnum, meaning the lesser work and the Great Workentailed in the dual process involved in the opera alchymica. This process can bedefined as the strenuous and lengthy endeavour of, as mentioned above, eventuallyjoining the symbolical fire and water (the Junguian animus and anima, which arepartly correlatable to the ancient Chinese yang-yin concepts) in the psyche, whichwas the aim of Pythagorean philosophy resulting in the development of celestial or'cosmic man'. T-E-N-E-T, as could be inferred after interpreting the meaning of theremaining quasi-Latin word ROTAS (see below), and disregarding the wordAREPO for the reason set forth hereunder, might well have been arrived at by theoriginator of the square as residual letters. But it does, however, exist as an actualLatin word with the meaning of 'he holds', and can accordingly be perfectlyincorporated in my interpretation of the Gnostic phrase or message, as given below,subtly concealed in the square in a coded form. AREPO can be regarded as a nonsense word, i.e., not a true Latin word,required to complete the phrase, this being a fact which renders the palindromicphrase imperfect. Note that it is the reverse of the word OPERA. The letters R-O-T-A-S do not strictly form a true Latin word either, since theplural of rota (= wheel) is rotae. It was obviously a licence, like the use of AREPO,taken by the originator of the square for the same reason. However, the basic word'rota' in this context must refer us to the symbolic rotating--or more precisely spirallyrotating--sunwheel representing spiritual evolution via soul-centred astrology and, as

14 The Dizionario Enciclopedico Italiano has an entry on a 2nd-century Antioch Gnostic bythis name. As a rare coincidence, satori in Japanese Zen Buddhism means illumination(=spiritual rebirth), in keeping with the meaning of the name Buddha (= awakened or illuminatedman). Dr. Jung refers to [...] the unawakened who are still unconscious of themselves, who havenot yet integrated their future more extensive personality, their wholeness, or, in the language ofthe mystic, the ones who are not yet illuminated.

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such, it is equivalent to the alchemical message symbolised by the rosettes or rose

windows in medieval Gothic cathedrals. Nevertheless, the inclusion of an impliedplural word is not by any means out of place because of the said dual alchemicalprocess, in that it is symbolically represented by the operation or influence ofspecifically a 'reversible' celestial or solar wheel constituting the means ofaccomplishing both the lesser work and the Great Work. Emerson, the notedAmerican essayist, said that Rotation is the law of nature; hence the rebirthsunwheel16. I wish to raise the academic question that the originator may also haveconcealed in the square a reaffirming message in the form of two erect snakes,representing the male and the female energies, confronting each other as inanticipation of becoming entwined round the staff17 of the mythical Hermes-Mercury. As we are dealing with a would-be palindromic phrase when read in theboustrophedon manner, as noted above, the two snakes can imaginarily be visualisedin the square when it is viewed starting alternately both from right-to-left and left-to-right, as shown below (Fig. 2). Dr. Jung, in commenting upon a symbolic poem (1952) by Frenchman NolPierre, says that the spiral rotation (See Note 16, second-half) mentioned therein is

15 In the seeming absence of a quoted Latin name for the lesser work, I dare call it opusparvum, as a term related to the Opus Magnum or the Great Work. 16 The cross stands for the conjunction of opposites [Cirlot] and hence the connection withthe symbolic four-spoke sunwheel when viewed as the dual axes on a natal psychoastrologicalchart serving as a personal mandala for meditation and subsequent self-knowledge and spiritualevolution in times of existential crises. Indeed, according to Montelius as quoted by Moeller:There is a well-founded theory that the cross was in origin the four spokes of the Sunwheelremoved from their mandala. The symbolic sunwheel (or the effect of the zodiac on a person asthe Earth revolves within its orbit in relation to the suns apparent annual path thorough theheavens) is viewed astrogically in the sense that it prompts major psychological changes (wheelingrevolutions) as it figuratively rotatesanticlockwise, clockwise and ultimately anticlockwiseagainaround the imaginary axis represented by an individuals self, from birth and throughouthis or her lifetime. This accounts for the fact in depth psychology that, as commented upon (1927)by Ortega, the noted Spanish philosopher,a former professor of Metaphysics at Madrid University,(TRANSLATION) Personality, in the course of a lifetime, experiences [except in case ofinvolution] two or three major transformations, which are like different stages on one samejourney of the spirit. It seems as if our deep-lying being, in each of such two or three stages, shiftsto another quadrant of the Universe and turns towards new constellations. (Emphasisadded). 17 As commented upon by symbologists, the double-helix molecular structure of the DNAsequence is uncannily reminiscent of these snakes when intertwined round the staff (caducaeus).The origin of the two snakes has been traced to Ningishzida, the Sumerian god of Medicine,because: When pictured in human form, two serpent heads grow from his shoulders [...][Britannica]. The symbolism of this god and his reputed mother corresponds with that of thelikewise Ninazu [= water knower] Sumerian deity, who in turn is considered the son of [...] thegoddess of the netherworld. [Britannica]. Campbell, the late American mythologist, adds thatNingishzida was the ultimate archetype or dark power [= the Greek Pluto] of the watery abyss.

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often represented by a snake. Furthermore, the caducaeus or staff of Hermes-

Mercury, which bears two entwined serpents symbolising union of the female andmale energies, represents inner balance leading to illumination.

ROTAS SATOR

OPERA AREPO

TENET TENET

AREPO OPERA

SATOR ROTAS

Fig. 2.

The number five (5) in Fig. 5, in bold face, which stands for the reduction ofthe 50 representing the letter N and which is in the centre of the basic 1-9 series ofnumerals, would represent here the theoretical 'heart'--most vital part--of the snakes. The rosettes--or rose windows--in medieval Gothic cathedrals were known asrotas (= wheels) according to Biedermann. Precisely the rosette on the north faadeof Notre Dame cathedral in Paris is still known as the alchemists rose. [Bayard].In the alchemical symbolic language, the white rose represents completion--after aproper purification, hence the colour white--of the lesser work, and the red rose--representing uplifting love-passion--symbolises completion of the Great Work[Chevalier], which facts would be exemplified by the two crosses. Therefore, both the ENE and the TENET crosses are relevant to the Gnosticmessage and, by extension, to Christian Gnosticism as expounded by SaintAugustine when talking of human transcendence and exploration of the self (asimplied in subdivision 5 under Additional Supporting Facts, above).

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METHODOLOGY

Apart from observing the symbolism directly apparent from the square, asalready discussed herein, I intuitively had the thought that there might be somesignificant numerical message concealed in the lettering. However, beforeconverting to numeric values the letters in the square, I had to find what mightreasonably be regarded as the generally accepted correlation, among contemporarynumerologists applying the Christian cabala, between the classical Roman alphabetand the corresponding Hebrew letters, and I hence proceeded as follows: In my pertinent search, I found that there is a table by the Hispanic-Americannumerologist Bucheli as originally published in Chile in 1936, which has beenadopted, or otherwise derived from a prior common source, by several othernumerologists, such as the French Fontaine; and which I deem could be regarded asthe standard table because it has yielded a comprehensiveand a virtuallyexhaustive--series of findings relevant to my theory. Moreover the cabalist Zev ben Shimon Halevi (Jewish) and the numerologistTurner (Anglo-Saxon), as well as Llaug (Spanish), have tables identical to theBucheli-Fontaine 'standard' table, except for the numeric value of Q, a letter thatdoes not appear in the square. The table of the symbologist Becker (German) islikewise identical, except for the variant value of the letter H, which letter does notappear in the square either. Finally, the table of Dr. Encausse (penname Papus), thefamous Spanish-born French cabalistic numerologist, shows variant values for theletter C, H, and K, but these do not appear therein either. Regarding the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, "the first ten are givennumeric values consecutively from one to ten, the next eight from 20 to 90 inintervals of ten, while the final four letters equal 100, 200, 300 and 400,respectively". [Britannica]. It should, of course, be noted that the consecutive order in the classical Romanalphabet does not fully match the consecutive order in the Hebrew alphabet (e.g., thethird letter in the former alphabet is C whereas the third letter in the latter alphabet isG).

The resultant Roman-Hebrew correlation is the following:

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A = ALEPH B = BETH C = KAPH D = DALETH

E = HE F = PE G = GIMEL H = HE

I = YODH K = KAPH L = LAMEDH M = MEM

N = NUN O = AYIN P = PE Q = QOPH

R = RESH S = SAMEKH T = TAW U = WAW

X = SHIN Y = YODH Z = ZAYIN -------

SOURCE: Chambers Book of Facts, Edinburgh (Scotland), 1997, p. 323.

Fig. 3

By application of the standard table, I arrived at the respective full numeric

values of the letters in the classical Roman alphabet, which are as follows: A B C D E F 01 02 20 04 05 80

G H I K L M 03 05 10 20 30 40

N O P Q R S 50 70 80 20 200 60

T U X Y Z --- 09 06 300 10 07 ---

Fig. 4.

For the square then, I reduced to a digit basis the numeric valuescorresponding to the letters therein read from the westernised version of the puzzle,which digits are as follows (Fig. 5): 6 1 9 7 2

1 2 5 8 7

9 5 5 5 9

7 8 5 2 1

2 7 9 1 6

Fig. 5.

190 THE SUNKEN RUINS OF POMPEII..._______________________________________________________________________________

Astonishingly, these digit values enabled me to uncover a real wealth of

symbolic numbers and forms, as is fully identified and described above, and gave methe key to interpreting the possible underlying message. The cabalistic symbolism ofsuch letter values, which may well have been in the mind of the contriver of thesquare, led me, perforce, to the Judaeo-Gnostic theory, as shown in the Discussionand Findings section, above.

OBJECT OF THE SQUARE

It is presumed that the original object of the square obviously was to ensuresecrecy as a protective measure for a mystery knowable only by initiates and toprotect the Judaeo-Gnostic sect in anticipation of possible antagonism on the part ofthe Roman state should it assume that the square was of Christian origin. Whatever may have been the case, there is no denying the fact that the squarehas for close to two millennia defied proper interpretation, for there is no generalconsensus on any single one of the varying opinions ventured thus far. This, nodoubt, is solid proof of the successful outcome of the intended secrecy object. Andif the solution presented herein is correct, I would dare say it is a puzzle that hasbeen far more difficult to crack than any of the secret codes recorded in the history ofcryptography.

CONCLUSION

In summary, it will be plain from the foregoing that (i) the repeated letteringENE and TENET cannot be taken to represent Christian crosses; (ii) the above-mentioned Father Kircher was completely off the mark when he negativelycommented upon in his book identified in the Bibliography, below, that[TRANSLATION] [...] these names [Sator-Arepo-Tenet-Opera-Rotas] wereinvented by diabolical inspiration, without their having any meaning; and (iii) thesquare can be equated to a mandala if only because its key lies in the centre and thewords OPERA and ROTAS allude to the process required to arrive at ones oncentre or Self, and because a mandala is described as and aid in meditation towardachieving a harmonious relationship with oneself, with others and with theUniverse.

191CARLOS PREZ-RUBN

Father Kircher, though, does illustrate the square in the centre of a hexagramformed by two interlaced or overlaced equilateral triangles (as in the Star of David orSolomons Seal), all inside a circle, which illustration obviously symbolises turningthe square into a circle through the union of opposites as per Note No. 9. These interlaced triangles, in ancient India, meant union of the male-femaleprinciples or, as shown above, "union of the fire and water elements" [Walker], i.e.,"joining of the unjoinable" [Cirlot] or Cusano's conjunctionis oppositorum yieldingboth the principium individuationis and sapientia. I propose that the phrasing of the concealed message, as read in the regularwesternised direction, be expressed as follows: SATORNILO HOLDS [THESECRET OF] THE [CELESTIAL] WHEELS AND THE [ALCHEMICAL]WORKS. The possible merit of my theory lies, I think, not in hopefully havingcompletely deciphered the cryptic inscription involved, but in having revealed aninvaluable perennial message which is valid for men and women at large inovercoming an existential crisis, notably at middle age. This is directly orindirectly vouched for by Gestalt psychology and by symbolic depth-psychologyas pioneered by notably the above repeatedly-mentioned Dr. Jung. Oddly enough,he designated his variant school of psychology as 'analytical' whereas, in actuality,it aimed at accomplishing a 'synthesis' in the psyche of his clients. In closing, this opportunity is also taken to belie a statement in the best knownencyclopaedia in English to the effect that the sudden death of the Italian kingFerdinand II in 1496 opened the way for the Spanish usurpation of the Neapolitanthrone. The actual historical fact, however, is that well over two centuries before (in1268) the 15-year-old prince Conradin of the German Hohenstaufen House, therightful pretender to the Neapolitan throne, symbolically assigned this title to kingPeter III of the Spanish House of Aragon, his closest in-law relative, just before theprince was to be beheaded on a charge of high treason made by the king CharlesdAnjou, who represented the true usurper French dynasty of the dual Neapolitan-Sicilian throne. Although Aragonand later united Spaincould not make good itsclaim to specifically the Neapolitan throne until 1435, this kingdom had from thattime direct or indirect royal ties with Spain, on and off, for close to 350 years in theaggregate. Oddly enough this considerable time-span matches the duration of theancient (BC 700 to 450) Greek colonies in Italy known as Greater Greece.